Shelf-supporting standard with removable head



March 24, 1970 M. BARD 3,502,293

SHELF-SUPPORTING STANDARD WITH REMOVABLE HEAD Filed June 28. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 ()0 Attorney March 24, 1970 f BARD 3,502,293

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Filed June 28, 1967, Ser. No. 649,627 Int. Cl. A47f /04, 5/10 US. Cl. 248--243 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE My present invention relates to improvements in selfsupporting standards of the type disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 486,033 filed Sept. 9, 1965, now Patent No. 3,339,751.

In that earlier application I have disclosed a standard in the form of an upright tubular bar with a flat forward face forming a vertical land provided with vertical slits for the insertion of shelf-supporting brackets and with mounting holes for the passage of screws designed to secure the bar to a supporting wall. This apertured forward face is flanked by a pair of lateral wings with rearwardly facing longitudinal edges forming wall-contacting surfaces.

A principal object of my present invention is to provide a standard of this general type adapted to support several sets of shelf-carrying brackets extending in different directions, for the purpose of affording greater versatility in the mounting of the shelves and/or reducing the number of standards required to support a given number of shelves.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a standard of the type described whose mounting holes are offset from its bracket-receiving slits so as to afford greater freedom in the positioning of the brackets without interfering with the tightening or removal of fastening screws.

It is also an object of my present improvement to provide a standard for the purpose described which is of attractive appearance and wherein the heads of fastening screws or the like are hidden from view.

A shelf-supporting standard according to my instant invention comprises an upright tubular bar of polygonal cross-section forming two or more nonadjacent faces which are provided with respective sets of bracketreceiving slits and are separated by at least one intervening face having mounting apertures for the passage of fastening screws or the like.

The slitted nonadjacent faces may include with each other an angle of approximately 90, which is particularly advantageous since it allows the bar to be placed in a corner of the room with a bracket extending along adjoining walls. In that event the polygonal crosssection of the bar need have only three sides, preferably adjoining sides of a regular octagon, the two outer sides bearing directly upon the respective walls. If the crosssection is extended to include two further, opposite sides (or parts thereof) of the octagon, the last-mentioned sides will be parallel to each other so as to bear octagonally upon a single wall surface against which the standard is placed; in this case the brackets will extend at 45 angles in two directions so that shelves may be placed thereon. Finlly, the cross-section of the bar may also be 3,502,293 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 ICC a complete polygon with an even number of sides, preferably an octagon, bisected substantially symmetrically so as to form two halves with longitudinal sliding fit whereby one half can be fastened to the wall by screws whose heads will be concealed after the other half has been slid into engagement with the first one. The joints between the two halves may be covered by decorative facings, e.g. of plastic material.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of part of a shelf-supporting standard according to my present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the assembly of FIG. 1 shown fastened to a wall;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing an assembly with two standards of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is another top view, illustrating a modification of the standard shown in the preceding FIGURES;

FIG. 5 is a front-elevational View of a standard with a removable head secured thereto; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an octagonal standard embodying the invention.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 I have shown a standard in the form of a tubular metal bar 10 of polygonal cross-section, more specifically a section which will be recognized as half of a regular octagon. Bar 10 has two faces 11a, 11b, formed with vertical slits 12a, 12b to accommodate brackets 13a, 13b at different elevations; the brackets extend at right angles to each other and support a shelf 14 indicated in dot-dash lines. It will be understood that additional pairs of brackets and shelves supported thereby may be secured to the standard 10 at other levels.

An intervening face of bar 10 is provided with mounting holes 15 for the passage of fastening screws 16 which enter a supporting wall 17. Faces 11d and 11e of the bar, each having a width equal to half that of faces 11a, 11b and 110, terminate in a pair of enlarged flanges 18 which lie in a common plane and bear flat upon the wall 17, these flanges constituting a pair of rear edges that lie in a plane parallel to the continuous front face 11c and are separated by a void giving clearance to the bolt members 16. It will be noted that the cross-section of bar 10 is generally trapezoidal, with front face 11c and lateral faces 11a, 11b defining the minor base and the sides of the trapezoid whose major base is represented by the empty space along wall 17 between edges 18. The two reduced-width faces 11d, 11e form, in efiect, rearward extensions of lateral faces 11a, 11b in planes perpendicular to that of face 11c.

In FIG. 3 I have shown two standards 10', 10", each similar to the standard 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2, fastened by screws 16', 16" to respective walls 17', 17", meeting at a corner of a room. Brackets 13' and 13", respectively supported on bars 10 and 10", carry a diagonally positioned shelf 14'.

In FIG. 4 I have shown a slightly modified bar 110 whose polygonal cross-section has only three sides 110a, 110b, 1100 terminating in enlarged flanges 118a, 1181) which bear upon respective walls 1171:, 117b-. Screws 116 (only one shown) pass diagonal-1y from face 1100 into the corner between walls 117a and 11712. A sector-shaped 'shelf 114 is supported by brackets 113a, 113b respectively depicted elsewhere in the drawing and in my prior application identified above.

In FIG. 6 I have illustrated two complementary bars 210, 210", each of generally the same transverse profile as the bar 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 except for the presence of interfitting formations 218', 218' (Le. a rib and a complementary groove) on the end faces 211d, 211a and 211d, 211e" of the two bars. The ribs and grooves, which preferably extend over the full length of the bars, provide a sliding fit whereby the two bars may be interconnected or separated by relative longitudinal displace- Iment.

In the assembly of FIG. 6, in which the two bars 210', 210" are joined to form an octagonally contoured standard, the central face 2110' of standard half 210 is disposed next to a supporting wall 217 to which it is fastened by screws 216 passing through mounting holes 215. The corresponding mounting holes 215" in standard half 210" are not used and are covered up by a decorative facing 221, e.g. of thermoplastic material, received in a forward depression of face 2210". Similar facing 221', 221" may be laid into recesses of adjoining faces 211d, 211a, and 211d", 2112' to conceal the joints 218', 218" thereof. The facings 221, 221', 221" may be held in position by adhesive bonding or other means. Faces 221a", 221b of bar 210" have some of their slits 212a, 212b" occupied by brackets 213a, 213b supporting shelves not shown. It will be noted that the heads of screws 216 are not visible after the semi-octagonal bar 210 has been slid into engagement with bar 210 fixed to the wal1217.

The interior of standard 210', 210", in FIG. 6, as also the spaces between the bar profiles and the supporting walls in preceding figures, may be used to accommodate wiring or other structures associated with objects to be placed on the shelves.

I claim:

1. A half-supporting standard comprising an upright hollow bar of sheet material having a polygonal crosssection with a continuous front face and two side faces defining the minor base and the sides of the polygon, said front face being apertured for the passage of fastening means to secure said bar to a supporting wall, said side faces terminating in two parallel rear edges which lie in a plane parallel to said front face and are separated by a void giving clearance to said fastening means, at least one of said faces being provided with a set of vertical slits for the mounting of shelf-carrying brackets thereon, said fastening means including a bolt traversing said bar close to an extremity thereof and a head for said bar removably adjoining said extremity, said head having spring clips extending into said bar for releasably engaging said bolt.

2. A standard as defined in claim 1, wherein said slits are formed in both said side faces.

3. A standard as defined in claim 1 wherein said rear edges are formed on rearward extensions of said side faces lying parallel to each other in planes perpendicular to said front face.

4. A standard as defined in claim 3 wherein the transverse profile of said extensions, said side faces and said front face conforms substantially to half a regular octagon split along a plane perpendicular to two of its sides.

5. A standard as defined in claim 3 wherein said extensions are broadened at said rear edges into wall-engag- 0 ing surfaces lying in said parallel plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,748 l/ 1924 Schulte.

3,136,520 6/1964 Reiss 248243 3,338,541 8/1967 Kellogg 248243 1,917,917 7/1933 Bales 248243 XR 2,677,519 5/1954 Hobson 248l25 2,936,904 5/1960 Streater 248250 MARION PARSONS, 111., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

5 3 53 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 502 293 D t d June 9th, 1970 Inventofls) Martin Bard It is certified that error appears in the aboveidentified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 37 (claim 1, line 1) for "half-" read shelf- (SEAL) Atteat:

EdwardMFletcherJr.

Emma n. sat-mm, .m. Attesting Officer Omissioner of Patents 

